10May | 2010
HowJoyful Bear: Tutorial and Pattern
Posted by Joy | under Sewing . Tutorials | 42 Comments
Last week I showed you one of the projects I’ve being working on. I wanted to make something really special for our wedding photographers, so as a Thank you present I made 2 little bears for their son and daughter.
Now that I actually finished and shipped the teddy bears, I didn’t want to just show you how it turned out, I also I wanted to share the pattern and some basic instructions on how to assemble. So gather your materials! and get ready to make your very own teddy bear! =)
IMPORTANT: This project is not for beginners, and if you have never made stuffed animals and are not familiar with patterns, I would recommend you to start with a more simple project and attempt this teddy bear once you have the skills and patience to put together pattern pieces and are familiar with your sewing machine (if you are not hand-stitching it). I am unable to give further instructions until I have the time to re-make a bear, but I do not know when that will be, so I can’t promise an exact date. I will update this post once I re-make this tutorial, but until now this post is all I have, Thank you for understanding!
First you need to download the pattern
(I printed my pattern on cardboard so that way the process of tracing to the fabric will be easier.)
Once you have all of the pieces of the pattern printed you are ready to start!
MATERIALS:
- 1 yard of fabric for the body (I used cream color fleece)
- 1/2 yard of fabric for the color details (I used light brown)
- 1 set of animal eyes 18mm
- small piece of felt for the nose
- Stuffing material (I used polyester filling)
- Sewing machine
THE PROCESS:
[ Click on image to enlarge ]
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First you need to trace all of your pieces on the fabric. |
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For all of those that say you need “2, 1 reverse”; after tracing the front, turn the pattern and trace the second piece. |
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I recommend to start with the ears, once you have them done attach them to the front and side part of the face. |
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Repeat and make sure the color of the ears is on the inside part. |
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After attaching the back, proceed to sew the mouth, first to the head piece and after that sew the front. |
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Then sew the body as marked on the pattern. |
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Sew the arms before attaching to the body, then pin the parts to make sure everything fits properly. |
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For the feet repeat the process and pin all the pieces together before sewing, sometimes it can be an overflow of fabric in this area depending on the kind of fabric you are using. |
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Make sure you assemble the tail and place it before closing the back. |
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The body of your Teddy Bear is done! |
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Proceed to attach the eyes, and pin the mouth to stitch it together. |
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I folded the very bottom of the mouth to shape a lip and then made two stitches on each side (Same place the pin is) |
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After that, mark his nose with a stitch from the lips to the nose, this is how the inside looks like after being done. |
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For mine I used a piece of felt to shape the nose, sew all the way around and your Teddy Bear’s face is done. |
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Stuff your bear and hand sew the head to the body, YOU ARE DONE! The finished Teddy Bear is about 16″inches tall (From his bottom to his ears), so if you need it to be bigger or smaller you can enlarge or scale down the pattern =] |
I made some changes to the back of this bear, I added a bag inside his tummy and buttons on the back so it can be stuffed with pajamas =)
See, it has a little bag! and the other one has handles to be a backpack! If you want to see all the rest of the pictures for the two very special bears, you should visit this post.
You can use normal hairy fur fabric too, I used fleece because these are for a little boy and girl, so I wanted the bears to be as soft as possible =) Hope you enjoy this project! It’s very fun!
* This tutorial is provided for personal use only. If you wish to sell items made with this tutorial please purchase a limited production license.
Check the Site policy at the bottom for further information, Thank you!
Joy Kelley is a Chilean Designer. Wife. Crafter. IMac dependent. Pattern lover. Color obsessed. The girl behind the HowJoyful Design Studio. Mrs Poodle at Weddingbee.
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Burda Style 
Hello. Thank you for the pattern. I started the bear yesterday and so far I have only made the head and it is amazing!! So cute and perfect!!
Carmen
Que bueno que les gusto el patron!
SoreLoser: the bear is approx. 13 inches when sitting.
Carmen: Im so happy you made it! upload some pics once you're done!
The bear is so cute I had to make one for my baby! This is the first time I have ever made a stuffed animal, but the instructions were great so It was pretty easy. I used old t-shirts (since I'm sorta nuts about recycling fabric). You should be able to see a pic here: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O_OTZ6TgvB8/TDdBQzsBrbI/AAAAAAAAAIc/RKD0EZzIH7k/s1600/Lumpy+Bear.JPG
I saw you teddy you made and just wanted to tell you how vute I think it is.. You did a wonderful job!!
Sara
YOur teddy is adorable!
Christina! your teddy bear is SO adorable! I love the feel of the recycled fabric! thank you for sharing the picture!
Hi
I am finishing the bear, so I hope I will soon show it to you. It has been an enjoyable and very cheap activity!!!
Carmen
I will love to see your finish bear!
hola Joy desde que vi el osito me encanto
gracias por compartir tu trabajo.. yo ya empeze el mio para mi novio jejeje
saludos de otra Joy
merci pour cette belle réalisation
amitiés
Monique
I have a question…how do you sew the head of the bear to the rest? I plan on making one for my goddaughter and i read the instructions but I can’t imagine how to do this part…
Thanks ^___^
what I normally do is sew the back of the neck and head first, I place them with the wrong sides to the outside and sew prob half of it, then moved the head and hand-sew the rest trying to make the stitch as hided as possible.
I hope you take this as constructive criticism, as I mean it to be. I found this tutorial very difficult and by the time I finished, I was missing half my hair and my children were screaming that they wanted a new mommy. The bear in the picture is extremely cute, but mine is a bit homely and crooked.
I wish you had put in more step-by-step directions. Rather than “sew up the arms and attach,” I would have done better with “Sew from point A to point b.” Does that make sense? I had no idea how to attach the arms and with the three points being on three corresponding pieces, I was utterly lost and had to sew over parts to make sure there were no holes in the poor teddy. Same thing with the legs. My seam ripper has never seen so much action!
I’m off to make bear #2, hopefully with better results. Wish me luck!
I’m sorry this was not as easy for you as it was for me. This was my very first tutorial and since the pattern I made has letters to guide the unions, I didn’t think such a detail instructions were needed. I will keep that in mind next time I make an stuff animal project. Hope you had better luck with number 2. Saludos!
Same here. I was really excited to make these and jumped right in. I ended up sitting here taping the pattern together so that the letters matched so I could visualize how it went together. It’s not working.
I CANNOT get the arms and legs to fit together right. For some reason the backs of the arms and legs seem to be like a full inch too long. I’ve checked them against the pattern pieces and they are the same size, I can’t figure out how to put them together so they fit.
I would also appreciate step by step instructions of how the arms and legs are constructed or at least a clear photograph of how they are put together and attached rather than just a photo of them already sewn and attached.
I’m very grateful for the free pattern, it was really kind of you to provide, I just need a little more direction!
Gracias!
Ola, sou brasleira e adorei o urso, porem nao consegui obter os molde pois nao aparecem em minha tela, poderia encaminhar-me por e-mail?
Muito grata
cleodumas@gmail.com
Ola, eu sou muito grata pelos moldes, agora vou pratica-lo. Obrigada
Wow! This bear looks so cool and hard too make. I’m in a high school sewing class and i desperately want to make this bear to make my pyjama pants i am making except i cannot figure out how you made the mouth look so perfect and round! When i sew my mouth it looks more like a beak…please help me!
wow, this bear looks real nice.. I am using fully hand sew. Did the head and it looks great but body part,hand and legs part I am lost.. Can U define which part to which part sew as porportion is so much harder hen it looks.. truely lost….
maggie
Can you show how to attach the head to the body in picture tutorial cuz I’m having trouble attaching it to the body nicely without it showing that it’s sewed on. On your picture the teddy looks clean and as if it were just one whole piece. I can’t tell you sewed the head onto the body. I’d like to replicate that effect. Please, teach me how.
So.. not sure if you will read this, but i really need help using this pattern. Do you think you could make a youtube video explaing how to use it?
This Bear is adorable
I plan on making this Bear for my nephew-in-law for Christmas. I haven’t started yet but I just wanted to know how I would go about turning it into a backpack. Thanks 
hope mine turns out as nice as yours :S
Dear Joy,
I´ve finished two or three bears i gave as a present for my family. I extremely adore the results, you can see where in your flicker group I posted 3 pictures of my version of white and pink joyful bear.
Best wihes and please keep posting lovely tutorials!!!
Maricarmen78 from Guatemala City
Good snowy morning. I make bears, both crocheted and sewn for the children at the safety shelters and homeless shelters. This pattern will be useful for the older ones. I make smaller crocheted ones for the younger children. I have begun a 4-H unit with my grandchildren and one of them is interested in sewing. I will save this pattern for her to also use as she progresses as I hope she does.
Thanks and have a blessed New Year.
Hello Joy!
I loved the pattern, I made one for a new-born and I hope he’d hug him a lot
I don’t have a flickr, so if you want to see mine, there’s the url
http://imaginoparati.com/2011/01/bienvenido-2011/
Hope you like it too
Hi Joy,
I’m starting to make my own bear and I’m a little confused as to how the back of the head is to be sewn on. Could you explain this to me or perhaps post some pictures that would detail this a little better?
I have the same question as most – “After attaching the back, proceed to sew the moth, first to the head piece and after that sew the front.” Is there more detailed information or imagery you can provide for this? Thanks!
Great but I see the problem. I am making this right now and I see an error. The pattern for the upper leg has the letters in the wrong points. I have taken this area apart three different times and matched it up all sorts of ways and only by doing this does the outer seam of the lower leg (the outside of the leg) match the length of fabric on the upper leg. It is off otherwise by a good inch, and even with stretchy fleece impossible to rectify. Difficult to explain here, but in short: the longer side of the upper leg goes to the outside of the lower leg, not the inside.
But this is one cute bear. I have made lots of stuffed animals and clothing and even I find the directions somewhat vague, but once you start you will see how it comes together. It is really one cute bear, one of the cutest I have seen. I will post pictures soon.
I finished my bear. Tomorrow he goes to his one-year old friend for adoption! Like I said above I agree with some of the instructions being vague and I note a problem I resolved, but I swear, this is one of the cutest bears I have ever made, just perfect out of fleece and loosely stuffed.
A thousand thank yous. For once a print out of the instructions. The bear came out cute, very easy. I always seem to lose the instructions when I “save”them. So thanks
obrigado pelo molde é lindo sou apaixonada por ursos e espero que no meu blog tenha algo que vc goste,beijos Brasileiro
bellabearcriacoes.blogspot.com
Hey, this looks amazing and I cant wait to make one….or more. unfortunately it seems the pattern link isnt working. Am I doing something wrong or has it been removed? could you email it to me or let me know what I am doing wrong. thanks.
Wow- How long did it take you to complete this? Is it possible to sew by hand?
Hola Joy, saludos cordiales desde Colombia, felicitaciones por tu página es variada, fresca y tus trabajos lucen muy delicados.
Adoro hacer muñecas de trapo y tu oso me ha parecido precioso, muchas gracias por compartir el patrón, voy a buscar los materiales para hacer el mío. Así que cuando lo haga te lo mostraré.
Tienes un perrito muy hermoso.
Bendiciones. Chaooooo
Thanks for posting this free pattern. I did have some issues with putting it together like some of the other people here, but I am fairly a beginner. I did get it and my three kids love the end result. I have to make a couple more things now so they don’t keep fighting over it. Thanks again!
Thank you for this beautiful Teddy Bear Pattern I’m Excited to start it I’ll post photos of him when I’m finished.
I am on my third and fourth bear. Second one has a lighter brown than he first. But the third and fourth are in primary colors! I love this bear!
Oi,sou do Brasil e amei, o seu ursinho, vou me animar para fazê-lo
bjs carinhosos.
I’d love to see others’ bears. If you post pictures please link to them. My nake is a hyperlink so you can see mine in Flickr.
Hello there, I have decided to close this post until I have time to make a revision of the tutorial and maybe a video for the assembly part because I think that would be the best way to show how to do it. I can’t promise when will that be but I will update this post with the link as soon as I make it, Thank you for understanding =]